A 05/06-8

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 23 November 2005 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.

1.Merchant Shipping (Registration) (Fees and Charges) (Amendment) Regulation 2005200/2005
2.Shipping and Port Control (Amendment) Regulation 2005201/2005
3.Specification of Public Office202/2005
4.Merchant Shipping (Limitation of Shipowners Liability) (Rate of Interest) (Amendment) Order 2005203/2005
5.Shipping and Port Control Regulations (Amendment of Seventh Schedule) Notice 2005204/2005

Other Papers

1. No.32-Ocean Park Corporation Annual Report 2004-2005
(to be presented by Hon Patrick LAU Sau-shing, who will address the Council)

2. No.33-Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong
Annual Report 2004-2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

3. Report of the Subcommittee on Closed Area (Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of World Trade Organization) Order
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the Subcommittee, who will address the Council)

II. Questions

1. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food has previously indicated that if there is an outbreak of human infection of avian influenza, the authorities will close the border in the worst-case scenario. Since the Secretary has not explained clearly the details of the above measure, his words have caused much anxiety among the catering, retail and food manufacturing industries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the circumstances and considerations under which it will activate the border-closing measure, and whether it will make reference to the World Health Organization's relevant guidelines; whether it has considered replacing border-closure with alternative measures, such as quarantining people who come from infected areas and have probably been infected with avian influenza;

    (b)whether it has already drawn up a list of food items which will be banned for import when the border is closed, and of the criteria adopted for drawing up such a list; and

    (c)of the arrangements for those Hong Kong people, such as cross-boundary drivers, who may fail to come back to Hong Kong from an infected area in time before the border is closed?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

2. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)

With the gradual increase in the population of Lantau and the opening of the Hong Kong Disneyland, the demand of both residents and tourists on medical services has increased. Regarding the progress of the construction of the North Lantau Hospital, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the anticipated number of people to be served by the Hospital;

    (b)whether it has formally consulted the relevant District Council and the Tung Chung Rural Committee on the proposed location of the Hospital and decided on the location; if it has, of the location; if not, when a decision will be made; and

    (c)of the expected dates of the commencement of the construction works and the commissioning of the Hospital?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

3. Hon WONG Yung-kan to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that some members of the public have complained that currently retailers are not required to obtain a licence or permit to sell hairy crabs; nor are the sale and storage of such crabs regulated by the Government. Hence, there is inadequate protection of consumer interests and food safety. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that retailers of live and fresh produce such as live chickens and fresh pork are currently required to obtain a licence or permit, of the reasons for not imposing similar requirement on hairy crab retailers, and which other retailers of live and fresh produce are not required to obtain a licence or permit;

    (b)whether it has assessed the risks of improperly stored hairy crabs on public health; and

    (c)of the mechanism in place to monitor retailers to ensure that hairy crabs sold by them are properly stored and safe for consumption?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

4. Hon Albert Jinghan CHENG to ask: (Translation)

To prepare for a possible outbreak of avian flu pandemic in human beings, the Government is increasing the stockpile levels of various antiviral drugs, with that of Tamiflu to be increased to 20.56 million capsules. The authorities have also reached an agreement with the drug supplier to deliver the Tamiflu capsules in batches. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it has formulated any policy on the distribution of Tamiflu in the event of an outbreak of the pandemic; if so, of the details, particularly on the prioritization of different categories of people in the distribution of drugs, and whether priority will be given to front-line health care workers and high-risk groups;

    (b)it has conducted any surveys on the current stocks of Tamiflu kept by retail drug stores, private medical practitioners and private hospitals; if so, of the respective stocks; and

    (c)it has assessed if the supplier of Tamiflu can deliver the drug to Hong Kong according to the agreement in the event of a worldwide outbreak of the pandemic, and how it can ensure that there will be a sufficient stock of Tamiflu in Hong Kong to deal with the pandemic?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

5. Hon TAM Heung-man to ask: (Translation)

Some accountants have relayed to me that there is a serious shortage of professionals in the accounting profession. Regarding the admission of professionals in various professions, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the numbers of professionals admitted to work in Hong Kong through various channels, which include the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, in the past two years, and details of their places of origin and the professions they worked in;

    (b)whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the existing policy for the admission of professionals; if it has, of the review results; if not, when such review will be conducted; and

    (c)whether it will consider formulating new measures for admission of talents, or reviewing the existing policy in this regard; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

6. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

I have learnt that a prisoner who requested to take Chinese medicines while being treated by a practitioner in Western medicine was required by the Correctional Services Department ("CSD") to provide proof that the Chinese and Western medicines concerned will not produce adverse interactions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)why CSD made the above requirement and whether this requirement constitutes deprivation of prisoners' right to proper medical treatment;

    (b)whether CSD will take the initiative to commission medical professionals or organizations to conduct tests to ascertain which Chinese and Western medicines are suitable for administration at the same time and which are not, so as to ensure that prisoners who have a need to take both Chinese and Western medicines can do so safely for quick relief of illness and speedy recovery; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it will allow prisoners to choose either Chinese or Western medical treatments; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*7. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

As District Councils ("DCs") have a good grasp of their communities, and the Policy Address delivered in October this year has also indicated that the role of DCs will be expanded to enhance work in districts, will the Government inform this Council whether the Commission on Poverty will consider promoting poverty alleviation work at the district level with various DCs through a particular form or mechanism of cooperation, e.g. by assigning DCs to be coordinators of such work, so as to pull together people from different strata of local communities to take part in poverty alleviation? Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary

*8. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)

Accidents involving fallen aluminium windows or air conditioners had occurred frequently in Hong Kong recently, and some even resulted in deaths and injuries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether there are provisions in the existing legislation stipulating that property owners are liable criminally and in damages for the deaths and injuries caused by the installations of their properties;

    (b)if there are such provisions, whether the victims concerned may in the end receive no compensation if the property owners are unable to make the compensation payment and have not taken out any relevant accident insurance; and

    (c)whether the authorities will consider setting up a fund to compensate those victims who cannot receive any compensation payment in the above circumstances?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*9. Hon LAU Chin-shek to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the cases in the "low earnings" category under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the total number of household members (excluding the applicants) in such cases, together with a breakdown by gender and age profile (in groups each covering five years);

    (b)a breakdown of such cases by the applicants' gender, age profile (in groups each covering five years), educational levels and employment earnings (in groups each covering $500), as well as the trades they are engaged in, their positions, the amounts of CSSA payments they receive each month and the numbers of months they have been receiving CSSA payments consecutively; and

    (c)the current number of CSSA cases in the "low earnings" category which were transferred from other categories?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*10. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)

It has always been the intention of the Government to develop cruise terminal facilities in South East Kowloon (i.e. the Kai Tak area), but the plan cannot be implemented in the near future as the Kai Tak Planning Review is underway. In view of this, the Tourism Commission announced on the 3rd of this month that interested parties are invited to submit Expressions of Interest for the development of a new cruise terminal, in order to ascertain whether there were suitable locations other than Kai Tak that might enable an earlier development of a cruise terminal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)as it is stipulated in the Invitation Document that no residential development may be included in the Cruise Terminal Development, whether it has assessed if such a stipulation will discourage the commercial sector from investing in the development of the cruise terminal; and

    (b)whether commercial developments may be included in the Cruise Terminal Development; if so, of the floor area that may be developed; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*11. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Reorganization Plan for the Food Safety Regulatory Framework, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)as they are currently about 1 000 staff of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department who are jointly engaged in the work on agriculture, fisheries and food safety, of the details concerning the division of responsibilities among them; the establishment and strength of their grades and ranks; and the results of the assessment on whether there are overlapping of structure and unclear delineation of responsibilities or work between the two government departments;

    (b)how the primary duties of the staff, their establishment and strength, and the relevant staffing in the corresponding policy bureaux and executive departments after the reorganization of food safety regulatory framework compare to those before that, including the number of additional staff at management, junior and professional levels and the amount of expenditure involved; the reduced grades, the number of staff affected and the cost savings; as well as how to achieve the objectives of streamlining the structure and saving resources;

    (c)of the amount of resources to be injected to perfect the work on food safety regulation; and how the notification mechanism will improve to ensure the disclosure of information, enhanced transparency, prompt notification to the public and proper handling of contingency situations; and

    (d)whether the authorities will comprehensively review the relevant legislation, revise food safety standards and formulate related policies, as well as provide scientific research funds and adequate staff training on food safety issues?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*12. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Hong Kong Polytechnic University was commissioned by the Central Policy Unit ("CPU") to conduct an opinion survey from 27 to 30 September 2005 on the methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and for forming the Legislative Council in 2008. Regarding the commissioning of external organizations by CPU to conduct opinion surveys, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether public tenders had been invited to determine the organization to be commissioned to conduct the survey in September this year; if so, of the number of bidders in the tendering exercise; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)of the number of surveys conducted in the past five years in which the contents of the questionnaires had been set by CPU before external organizations were commissioned to conduct the surveys and analyse the data obtained, together with a list detailing the subject matters of such surveys, the dates at which the surveys were conducted and the organizations commissioned; and

    (c)whether it has assessed if the objectivity and independence of opinion surveys on the Government's proposals will be affected if the contents of the questionnaires for such surveys are formulated by CPU?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

*13. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the details of each of the existing outsourced service contracts awarded by the Housing Authority ("HA") in the form of the following table?
Location where the outsourced service is provided and name of contractor Estimated cost of service as set out in the tender document HA's approved price of outsourced service contract

(Please indicate whether this is the lowest bidding price)		 Number of staff required and terms of remuneration for cleaning workers and security staff as set out in the tender document Number of staff employed by contractor and their remuneration















Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*14. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that since February last year, Internet surfers in the Mainland have been unable to access the web-site of Radio Television Hong Kong ("RTHK"). Hong Kong residents in the Mainland are therefore denied access to the information on the web-site. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the reasons for Internet surfers in the Mainland being unable to access RTHK's web-site;

    (b)whether RTHK, the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau and the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Beijing have reflected the problem to the relevant Mainland authorities; if so, which of the above has/have done so, and of the Mainland authorities to which the problem has been reflected, the views conveyed and the responses received; and

    (c)whether it will discuss with the relevant Mainland authorities ways to resolve the problem; if so, when the problem is expected to be resolved; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)

*15. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the following in the past three years:
    (a)the lower quartile, median and upper quartile of the waiting time, the longest waiting time as well as the average unit cost for first consultation appointments at specialist out-patient clinics under the Hospital Authority ("HA") as a whole and in each hospital cluster, broken down by various specialties; and

    (b)the respective occupancy rates and lengths of stay of the patients concerned for general beds and for beds of various specialties under HA as a whole and in each hospital cluster, broken down by various specialties?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*16. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)

Phase II of the Lok Ma Chau Control Point expansion project was completed at the end of 2003, with new facilities including a coach parking information system ("the information system") and travellators. However, I have received complaints about the information system being not fully utilized because of repeated failures, and because most coach drivers do not bother to enter the vehicle registration marks after parking their coaches. Moreover, there are also complaints that the travellators at the Control Point are often out of service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the anticipated and actual utilization of the information system and travellators mentioned above;

    (b)the respective numbers of days since commissioning on which both of the two facilities were in normal operation, one or both of them were out of service; and

    (c)the reasons for the two facilities being out of service, and the numbers of days on which such suspension of service was attributable to the contractor's quality of work, human errors or mechanical failures respectively?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*17. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

At present, there are discrepancies between the fee levels for certain types of leisure and sports facilities provided by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in the New Territories and those in the urban area. Many New Territories residents have pointed out that the fees of these facilities in the New Territories are generally higher than those in the urban area, which they consider as unfair to them. Also, the Administration told this Council in November 2003 that in view of the then financial climate, the fee level alignment exercise had been put on hold. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the details of the fees of the leisure and sports facilities in the New Territories and the urban area; and

    (b)whether the alignment exercise will resume; if so, when the fees will be aligned; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*18. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that in a sample test of plastic disposable tableware recently carried out by the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, about half of the samples were found to contain carcinogenic substances. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)how it prevents the inflow of such substandard plastic tableware into the territory, and whether it has assessed the health implications of using such tableware over a long period of time;

    (b)of the number of samples taken for laboratory tests by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in the past three years from foods in plastic disposable containers, the number of such samples suspected to have been contaminated by the containers, the number of prosecutions instituted against the persons concerned and the penalties imposed on those convicted;

    (c)of the department responsible for monitoring the food safety aspects of food containers and utensils; and

    (d)of the current progress of its study on regulating the quality of plastic disposable tableware by legislation, and the other measures to safeguard public health?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*19. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the education of students of the ethnic minorities, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)in each of the past ten years, of the number of students of the ethnic minorities who:

    (i)sat for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, together with their passing rates for Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics; and

    (ii)furthered their studies in matriculation courses; and

    (b)whether specific measures are in place to help students of the ethnic minorities to learn Chinese; if so, of the effectiveness of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*For written reply.

III. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance

Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food to move the following motion:

Resolved that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 31 October 2005, be approved -

    (a)the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment)(No. 3) Regulation 2005; and

    (b)the Poisons List (Amendment)(No. 3) Regulation 2005.

    (The two Regulations have been issued on 3 November 2005
    under LC Paper No. CB(3) 104/05-06)

IV. Members' Motions

  1. Proposed resolution under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Hon TSANG Yok-sing to move the motion in the Appendix.

  2. Enhancing economic and trade cooperation between Hong Kong and the Pan-Pearl River Delta region

    Hon CHAN Kam-lam: (Translation)

    That, as the cooperation among the Hong Kong SAR, nine Mainland provinces/region and the Macao SAR in the Pan-Pearl River Delta ("PPRD") region is expanding, this Council urges the Hong Kong SAR Government to firmly grasp this opportunity to vigorously enhance the economic and trade cooperation with the various provinces/region in the PPRD region, further implement and develop the PPRD Regional Cooperation Framework Agreement, explore measures to deepen the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement in the region, and to simplify the procedures to promote investments by Mainland enterprises in Hong Kong, so as to upgrade and transform Hong Kong's service-based economy after integrating with the Mainland's manufacturing industry and create more job opportunities locally; at the same time, this Council also urges the Hong Kong SAR Government to relax the visa requirement for travellers under the Individual Visit Scheme, so as to facilitate Mainland residents to come to Hong Kong for leisure travel and business, thereby promoting the development of the two places and creating a win-win situation that brings about mutual benefits.

    Amendment to motion
    Hon Albert HO:     (Translation)

    To add "and adopt the following measures" after "to firmly grasp this opportunity"; and to delete ", further implement and develop the PPRD Regional Cooperation Framework Agreement, explore measures to deepen the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement in the region, and to simplify the procedures to promote investments by Mainland enterprises in Hong Kong" after "the various provinces/region in the PPRD region" and substitute with ": (a) discussing regional planning with the provinces/region in the PPRD region, so as to avoid scrambling for building infrastructures that already exist and are sufficient to meet the demands in the region, such as container terminals and airports, and thereby wasting resources or even creating vicious competition in the region; (b) further implementing and developing the PPRD Regional Cooperation Framework Agreement, including perfecting the road and railway networks linking Hong Kong and the Mainland as well as extending Hong Kong's aviation network to the Mainland, so as to improve the efficiency of passenger and cargo flows between the two places and promoting mutual economic and trade cooperation; (c) studying the implementation of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ('CEPA') in the region, and progressively establishing communication and coordinating mechanisms with the Mainland authorities so that Hong Kong residents who do business, work and live in the Mainland because of the implementation of CEPA can reflect to the relevant Mainland authorities through the Hong Kong SAR Government the difficulties they encounter in the Mainland, thereby perfecting CEPA; and (d) simplifying the procedures for Mainland enterprises to invest in Hong Kong, so as to attract them to come to Hong Kong and promote cooperation between enterprises in the two places, thereby complementing each other's advantages and enhancing the competitiveness of the PPRD region".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

  3. Policy on inheritance of "dai pai dong" culture

    Hon Tommy CHEUNG: (Translation)

    That this Council urges the Government to look squarely at the concept of cultural inheritance and affirm the historical value of street side "dai pai dongs", review the licensing policy for "dai pai dongs" in order that they can complement the tourism development plans and, at the same time, assist the operators of "dai pai dongs" in identifying suitable sites to continue their operation in compliance with the environmental hygiene and safety requirements, so that this traditional culinary culture can thrive.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon CHAN Yuen-han: (Translation)

    To add "cultural and" after "affirm the"; to add "the people's needs in their daily life and promote" after "complement"; to delete "identifying suitable sites to continue their operation" after "the operators of 'dai pai dongs' in" and substitute with "continuing to operate"; and to add "and study the setting up of designated zones for on-street cooked food stalls," after "safety requirements,".

    (ii)Hon Fred LI: (Translation)

    To add "operating in situ or in" after "the operators of 'dai pai dongs' in"; and to delete "in compliance" after "to continue their operation" and substitute with "provided that they receive the support of the district councils and the local communities concerned, and comply".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

  4. That this Council do now adjourn

    Hon Miriam LAU: (Translation)

    That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: Security and public order issues relating to the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security

Clerk to the Legislative Council